The present invention relates to diagnostics of process control and monitoring systems of the type used in industrial processes. More specifically, the present invention relates to diagnostics which are based upon thermal imaging in industrial processes.
Industrial processes are used in the manufacture and movement of various process fluids. In such installations, piping is used to convey process fluid between various locations such as containers or other vessels. Piping, containers, as well as other types of vessels are examples of process conduits.
The various conduits used within an industrial process that carry process fluid may tend to degrade over time. One source of this degradation is due to exposure to excessive temperatures. Such excessive temperatures may result in a temperature gradient in the process which can be identified by an operator physically walking through an industrial plant carrying a handheld thermal imaging camera to obtain infrared surface temperature measurements. The operator must manually interpret the image information to determine if a temperature is outside of a specified range. This is time consuming and does not provide continuous monitoring of critical points within the process.